


All in the family

by Lilithtje



Series: All in the family [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Animagus, Baby Harry, Multi, Werewolf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-06 22:39:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11045799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilithtje/pseuds/Lilithtje
Summary: James and Lily can finally relax after baby Harry falls asleep, only to be disturbed by Sirius.. and why isn't he with Remus on a full moon night?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All the characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

“James! Could you bring Harry’s stuffed doggy?” Lily called from the nursery. Harry was a nine months old baby, adorable with bright green eyes, messy black hair and absolutely the most beautiful smile. He was a happy baby, cheerful most of the time, except when he was tired. Lily knew that she had about five minutes before her little boy goes from a bit cranky to outright having a crying fit. It was already almost nine o’clock in the evening, long past Harry’s normal bedtime. As they were visiting James and Lily’s two best friends earlier, Harry has had a late nap and his whole routine has therefore changed. Now however, he was all the more ready to go to sleep. Rubbing his eyes and kicking his legs as Lily buttoned up the blue pj’s, he was getting crankier by the second. “Shhh my sweet baby boy, mummy is all done now. Daddy will bring your doggy and then it’s sleepy time.” Lily cuddled Harry close to her and gently pressed a kiss in his messy hair. She was just about to call James again when he appeared in the doorway, looking quite harried.

“I can’t find the dog anywhere, we must have left it in Harry's room at the Den. I tried floo calling them but their floo is closed. I think they are already locked down in the cellar.”

Den was the house where Sirius and Remus lived. They were a couple now, though it took them quite some time to figure out that they were meant for each other. Finally at Lily’s and James’s wedding Sirius got drunk, grabbed Remus by the collar and snogged the living daylights out of the shy man. The next day, after a large dose of hangover potion and lots of talking, Sirius and Remus officially started dating. Now, a year and a half later, they lived together. As Remus was a werewolf and needed a safe place during the full moons, they bought a house on the outskirts of a little village. It was well away from other people and there was a forest almost right at their back door. They also build in a cellar with padded walls to help Remus minimize the injuries during his transformation. Sirius always stayed with him, though always only in his Animagus form. He could turn into a Grim, a huge black dog. Remus’s werewolf recognized Padfoot as one of his pack and would never hurt him. Tonight was a full moon and after Lily, James and little Harry left home, Sirius closed the floo and locked the wards and followed Remus down to the cellar. He left the back door unlocked because Moony (how they named the werewolf) and Padfoot would usually go for a run in the forest to get rid of all that pent up animal energy. Later they would return to the cellar and curl up next to each other, sleeping till the next morning. When Sirius and Remus bought their house, they asked their friends and even Albus Dumbledore for help with the wards, wanting to make absolutely sure that nobody could accidentally get hurt by transformed Remus. Albus has even put up specific wards around a big part of the forest, essentially closing it down for any human (be it wizard or muggle) during the full moon.

James, knowing all this, was at loss at what to do. He knew how Harry loved his stuffed dog and ever since he got it three months ago he never went to sleep without it. Lily was rocking Harry gently in her arms but the little boy has already reached his limit and started to cry. Large tears were rolling down his rosy cheeks as he was looking around for his stuffed animal friend. 

“Pafuu pafuu” Harry was crying, his tiny fists grabbing onto Lily’s jumper.

“Shhh sweetie, mummy is so sorry, doggy stayed with Remy and Siri, but we will get him first thing in the morning.” Lily’s soothing voice was not helping much and she looked at James helplessly.

“Perhaps we can give him something else to sleep with? He seems to like this green dragon well enough.” James suggested and waved the toy in front of Harry. “Look Harry, it’s a drakie!” This seemed to agitate the little boy even more and his crying got even louder. “Pafuu pafuu!!” Harry’s waving arms knocked the dragon out of James’s hand. “Well, it was worth a try.” Sighed James as he picked up the toy and put it back on the changing table. After what seemed like hours Harry finally cried himself to sleep. Lily carefully laid him down in his crib and tucked a warm blanket around him. She tiptoed out of the room and gently closed the door, after setting an alarm charm that would warn her when Harry woke up.

She found James in the sitting room, sprawled out on the couch, one arm thrown across his face.

"The moment I get my hands on that damn dog I swear I'll use a permanent sticking charm to stick it to Harry. That way we'll never have to worry about losing it again... merlin, my ears are still ringing, never knew babies could be so loud!" James complained. Lily smiled at her husband and perched herself on the edge of the couch, right next to his head. She ran her fingers through James's hair.

"Come on, dear, they're not so bad. And Harry won't be a baby much longer, soon we'll have a toddler in house. Before you know it he'll be off to Hogwarts and you will complain it's much too quiet around here." James lowered his arm and looked up at Lily.

"That's never going to happen Lils, we'll just keep having more babies every year!" He grinned and waggled his eyebrows, "wanna go try making one right now?"

Before Lily could answer the fireplace flared to life and a second later Sirius stumbled into the room, frantically looking around himself.

"Sirius? What's going on? Did something happen to Remus?" James jumped up from the couch.

"Where is Harry?" Sirius grabbed James by the shoulders and shook him. "Where is he?"

"Sirius! Calm down! What's going on? Harry is asleep in his room. Took him a right time to doze off too, thanks so much for giving him a toy he now can't live without." James answered grumpily, trying to get out of his best friend's grip.

"Sirius?" Lily stepped closer and gently touched his face. "Why aren't you with Remus?"

Sirius took a deep, shuddering breath. "We went down to the cellar as usual and Remus transformed. I followed Moony out to the back yard when he suddenly turned back to the house. I thought maybe he didn't feel like running tonight but instead of returning to the cellar he went upstairs. I finally found him in Harry's room, sniffing at Harry's pluchie dog." Sirius ran a hand through his black hair, pulling at the long strands in his agitated state as he continued.

"He then let out a fierce howl, had Padfoot's fur standing on end let me tell you. Next thing I know Moony darted past me and out of the door. I went after him but he was too fast.. I soon lost him and Padfoot had to sniff him out. I think... I think he's not in our forest anymore.." Sirius knuckles turned white, he was squeezing James's hand so hard. Lily looked at him all worried.

"You mean Moony went further into the forest? Past the wards?" James shook his head. "No, that can't be, the wards wouldn't let him. Right?" He looked at Lily. "Right, Lils?"

"Well.." Lily hesitated. "The wards are designed to keep other people out, not necessarily to keep Moony in. But werewolves are fiercely territorial creatures and Moony has marked that part of the forest as his own. I don't think he would venture far beyond the borders of his territory. Well, not unless.." She glanced at Sirius. He looked back at her with trepidation.

"Unless what?" James asked, looking between his wife and best friend.

"Unless one of his pack was threatened." Lily answered, her eyes fixed on Sirius. Sirius nodded slowly.

"I lost his trail when he crossed the river. I think.. I think Moony is headed for Godric's Hollow."

"He's coming here?" Lily's voice sounded slightly hysterical. All of a sudden there was a loud thump and a sound of a door breaking coming from upstairs.

"Oh no, Harry!!" Lily grabbed her wand from the coffee table and hurried out of the room, James and Sirius at her heels. James put a firm hand around her waist. They stopped atop the staircase, then slowly inched their way closer to the broken door.

"Slowly Lily, don't make any sudden movements." Whispered James, ready to whisk his wife away the first moment he sensed any danger. Lily tried to free herself from his grasp, her only thought being the saving of her baby.

Somehow Sirius was the first to reach the door and he cautiously peaked inside. He froze at what he saw. Inside was Harry, still peacefully sleeping in his crib, his chubby little arms tightly holding on to a paw.. a werewolf paw... belonging to a werewolf who laid half in the crib with Harry and was half hanging out of it because he was just too damn big to fit all inside. Sirius felt more than heard James and Lily step next to him, both equally frozen in shock.

Moony was watching them with wary eyes but remained completely still. Harry cuddled himself closer to the werewolf, his button like nose buried in the soft fur. Sirius finally snapped out of his shock and carefully stepped closer to the crib.

“Hey Moony.” He stopped as the werewolf started to growl at him. “Easy Moony, nobody here wants to hurt Harry. He is safe, see?” Sirius spoke quietly.

Moony’s low growling seemed to have woken up Harry. The little boy stretched his legs and rubbed his face into Moony’s fur. It must have tickled him as he let out a giggle and then sneezed. Moony lowered his head coming face to face with the boy, sniffing and licking him occasionally. Harry giggled some more, looking at Moony with big curious eyes.

“Harry?” Lily watched the whole display nervously, wanting nothing more than to snatch her precious baby away. James still held her tightly, one arm around her waist and the other on her hip. Harry looked up at the voice of his mother and smiled his beautiful grin at seeing most of his favourite people in the room.

“Hey Harry,” said Sirius, again inching a bit closer to the crib. “I see you met Moony.”

Harry looked up at him and then at the werewolf. “Moooomy?” Harry stared expectantly into the amber eyes. “Moooomy?” Moony licked the baby’s nose in answer. Harry giggled again and hugged himself closer to his furry companion. “Moooomyyy.”

Sirius stood still and watched on with amazement when he heard a groan behind him. He turned back to see James rubbing his forehead wearily, muttering under his breath.

“Great, just great. First that stupid toy and now a werewolf. He’ll want to spend every full moon with him, I can just see it. Maybe we can train him to become an Animagus early. A little Prongs junior, that wouldn’t be so bad.”

Lily turned to him, an incredulous look on her face. Sirius snorted.

“Good one, Prongs. But I don’t think you’ll get a Prongs junior. Little Harry definitely has a canine feel about him. Every time I’m around him as Padfoot, he smells like a puppy.” Sirius smirked at the outraged look on James’s face.

“My son will not turn into a mutt, you mutt! No, if anything, it will be something elegant and proud… just like his father!” James nodded to himself, in his head already going through the animals that Harry could possibly turn to.

“Ha, you wish Prongsie! Little Harry will do his godfather proud.” Sirius shifted into his Animagus form and barked at James.

“Pafuu!!” Harry called out suddenly, grabbing a handful of Moony’s fur and trying to pull himself into a sitting position. “Pafuu!! Moooomy, Pafuu!” Harry stuck one hand out of the crib, wanting to touch the big black dog. Padfoot bounded closer and sniffed the little hand, then proceeded to lick it very thoroughly. Harry giggled again. Moony leaned closer but recognized Padfoot as his pack mate and deemed him safe around _his_ cub.

Lily decided she was kept away from her son long enough. She moved forward, only to be stopped by James again.

“No, Lily! You can’t go there, Moony doesn’t know you and will see you as a threat!”

“But he’s MY baby! I would never hurt him!” she cried out.

“I know that love, and Remus knows that too. But Remus is not here right now and Moony is just trying to protect his pack. He’s acting on his instincts. From what Siri told us, Moony could smell Harry in their house and if what Padfoot claims is true, then our son smells like a puppy to them. Or a cub in Moony’s case. He must have thought Harry was taken from him.”

“Oh.” Said Lily. “But what if he accidentally hurts Harry? Remus would never forgive us if we let that happen.”

“I know.” Sighed James. “But if we try to take Harry away now, we only risk precisely that happening. Best is to wait till Moony turns back and then talk to Remus about it. Perhaps Albus can help us adjust the wards near the Den to also keep Moony inside.”

Lily eyed the strange trio across the room. Harry was still giggling happily, pulling on Moony’s ears one moment and touching Padfoot’s wet nose the next. The two canines seemed quite content, judging by Moony’s lazy half closed eyes and Padfoot’s wagging tail.

“Alright.” Conceded Lily. “But I’m spending the night right here where I can see them. I won’t be able to sleep now anyway.” Lily waved her wand and transfigured a rocking chair standing in the corner to a small, but comfortable looking bed. Moony didn’t appear to have a problem with this, as long as she and James stayed on the other side of the room.

James nodded and laid down, his feet dangling of the edge of the makeshift bed. Lily squeezed herself next to him, her eyes still fixed on Harry. The little boy shuffled around the crib until he was on his tummy, practically lying on top of Moony. He was yawning sleepily, his eyes already closed. Lily chuckled to herself when she saw one of Harry’s fist grab Moony by the ear, the other already holding on to Padfoot.

James spooned himself against Lily, kissing her head gently.

“Good night, love. Try to sleep for a bit, Harry is perfectly safe. I spent enough full moons with Moony to know he would never hurt any of his pack mates.”

Lily suddenly sat up. “That’s true! Moony knows Prongs! Why don’t you transform too and keep an closer eye on him?”

“And leave you here all alone? No Lils, Padfoot would step in if it would be necessary, he loves Harry more than anything.” James pulled Lily back down to his arms, burying his face in his wife’s red hair.

“Harry loves him too. His first word was Padfoot after all.” Lily smiled when she felt James huff in her hair.

“Sirius will never let me forget that.”

Lily snickered and after checking on Harry again she finally let herself relax, her eyes closing and her body moulding against James.

The little room was quiet as they all fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Furry little problem

Remus woke up as he felt something pulling on his hair. His whole body felt stiff and sore, but that was a normal occurrence after a full moon. He actually thought the soreness wasn’t so bad this time and he felt well rested for once. Slowly opening his eyes, Remus blinked a couple of times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. There, across the room, laid Lily and James. James on his back with Lily using his chest as a pillow. Remus took in the room, noticing the broken door and he was instantly filled with dread. Had Moony done this? Broken into his best friend’s home and then what? Lily and James seemed to be unharmed, but.. where was Harry? Oh no! He was lying in Harry’s crib! Remus was on a verge of a panic attack, his breaths coming out in short puffs. If he hurt Harry, if he… if Moony..

Something pulled on his hair again. Turning to face the wall, a great sense of relief flooded over him. Harry was curled up close to his head, one of the little hands still tangled in Remus’s light brown tresses.

Remus gently removed Harry’s hand from his shaggy hair, perhaps it was time for a haircut, he mused. Carefully sitting up, not wanting to disturb the sleeping baby, he climbed out of the crib. His bare foot collided with something warm and furry. Padfoot yelped and darted from under the crib, tripping Remus in the process. They both came crashing down in a tangle of limbs.

Sirius shifted back from his Animagus form, laughing at the dazed look on Remus’s face.  
“Good morning, sunshine!” Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus, holding him close, hiding his face in the crook of his boyfriend’s neck.

“Good morning.” They sat in silence for a while, Sirius almost dozing off again.

“Siri?”

“Hmm?”

“Why are we here?”

Sirius moved to look at Remus.

“What do you remember?”

Remus ran a hand through his hair. “Not much really, you know how it is. Moony has a mind of his own. I only get some of what he’s feeling at the time. Last night he was.. content, happy even... how in a Merlin’s name did we end up here?”

Sirius chuckled. “Apparently Moony regards little Harry as his cub and decided to track him down.”

Remus was looking at him strangely, a mix of awe and horror on his face.  
“I.. I.. oh god, what if I had hurt him? Or James and Lily.. why didn’t you stop me?”

“I tried Rem but Moony was just too fast for me. He took me by surprise, I wasn’t sure where he was going until I got here.” Sirius ran his hand up and down Remus’s arm in a soothing motion as he told him what happened last night.

“He said my name?” Remus glanced at the still peacefully sleeping baby with a gentle smile.

“Yes, he did.” Came the answer from the other side of the room. James was awake and getting up. He pointed a finger at his two friends. “You two have totally spoiled my son. Not only can’t he fall asleep without that stuffed dog you gave him, now his first words belong to you as well. You know what this means, right?” James sounded amused and the other two looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

“Pillow fight!” yelled James suddenly and lobbed two pillows at his friends in quick succession. Taken by surprise, they didn’t have time to duck and both pillows hit their marks. Not wasting a second, Sirius picked up the bigger one and chucked it back at James. Remus pulled out Sirius’s wand out of his boyfriends jeans back pocket and quickly cast a protection barrier around Harry’s crib. Then the war was on. Soon the whole room was littered with feathers and Sirius looked like a badly plucked chicken, feathers sticking out of his hair everywhere. James took cover behind the broken door and Sirius and Remus were slowly advancing, hoping to surprise him with a double attack.

It was at this point that Lily finally woke up. She was known to be up at the slightest peep from Harry but otherwise could sleep through an earthquake. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and came face to well, ehm, face with a certain part of Remus. Who was standing close to her makeshift bed. Naked. Lily’s eyes went wide and she slapped a hand across her mouth to stifle the giggles. Remus looked at her with bewilderment, only to turn tomato red a moment later when he realized he was still starkers after his transformation. He quickly positioned a pillow in front of him and looked at Sirius with pleading eyes.

Sirius stepped closer to his boyfriend and hugged him from behind, whispering in his ear. “You’re so adorable when you get all shy, you know that? That blush is especially fetching.”

Remus only blushed harder but the smile on his face was telling.

Transfiguring one of the feathers lying around, Lily handed Remus a robe.  
“This might work better than a pillow.” She grinned and then turned around to give him some privacy.

“Thank you, Lily.” Remus quickly put on the robe. It was dark red with black rim and fit him almost perfectly.

James came out from behind his cover when he realized the pillow fight was now essentially over. Together with Lily and Sirius they used their wands to clean up the room and repair the broken door. Remus’s wand was still at the Den where he stripped out of his clothes to prevent ripping them during his transformation.

When they were done Lily took down the protection barrier around the crib and picked up Harry, who was just waking up. Cuddling him close she pressed a kiss in the messy black hair.  
“Good morning, sweetie.” She cooed at him. “Did my baby sleep well? Is my sweetie pie ready to wake up?”  
Lily kept murmuring in a soft voice as she carried Harry to the changing table to start their morning routine. Harry was quiet, looking at his mother with sleepy eyes. Finally dressed, now sporting a dark blue, longsleeve bodysuit with a picture of three hoops and a print that said ‘I’m a keeper’ and a grey, soft jersey pants, Harry was ready to face the day. Lily left his feet bare as the little boy usually pulled his socks off anyway.

When she was done she carried him downstairs to the kitchen, setting him down in the high chair. The three Marauders were already in a process of hunting down some breakfast and Lily rolled her eyes at the mess they made.

“Here Pads, catch!” James flung a piece of bacon at Sirius.

“Yes!” Sirius high fived James as he caught the bacon in his mouth. Only to promptly spit it out on the floor as it was still too hot. “Ow ow ow hot!” Sirius cast a cooling charm on his tongue, tossed his wand on the table and swiftly shifted into Padfoot. He soon found the missing bacon and devoured it without chewing.

“Smooth, Padfoot, very smooth.” Grinned James.

Sirius shifted back. “Why thank you, good man, I aim to please.” He took a mocking bow.

“Why didn’t you just accio your bacon back?” asked Remus, already knowing the answer.

“Well Moony, where’s the fun in that?” Sirius looked at him with feigned disbelief, smirking when Remus rolled his eyes at him.

“Moooomy?”

As one they all turned to Harry, who was watching them with bright eyes and was happily chewing on Sirius’s wand.

“Oops, I better take this back.” Before Sirius could get any closer, Harry cheerfully waved his hands and with a loud “Moooomy!” suddenly disappeared.

For a second the room was deadly still as they all stared in shock at Harry’s empty chair.

A happy yip coming from under the table had them all falling to their knees.

“What the..” James took a deep, shuddering breath and all of a sudden started to laugh hysterically. Tears were rolling down his cheeks and he folded his arms around his waist to keep himself from falling over.

“James?” Lily watched her husband worriedly.

“I think he finally snapped.” Not minding the disapproving look from his boyfriend, Sirius squeezed himself under the table.  
“Well hello there, little fella.”

A warm tongue licked his fingers as two curious green eyes watched him scoot closer. Harry’s eyes, now belonging to a little black puppy. Sirius picked him up and set him down on his lap, softly scratching the fluffy ears.

“Aren’t you the cutest? Yes, you are. Yes, you are.” Cooing at the little dog and petting the soft fur, Sirius looked him over. The pup was completely black, wagging his bushy tail frantically.

“Siri? Is he ok? Is he hurt?” Lily peered under the table.

“Hold on, we’re coming out.” Sirius held the puppy firmly, yet gently against his chest as he crawled forward.  
Standing up, he set the puppy down on the table and they gathered around to have a better look. Even James, who seemed to have calmed down a bit from his laughing fit.

“Harry? Sweetie?” Slowly, not wanting to startle him, Lily reached to pet her son who have somehow turned into a puppy. Harry-the puppy seemed to love all the attention and rolled on his back, letting Lily scratch his little belly.

“I guess that explains why he smelled like a puppy to Padfoot. Any ideas on how to turn him back?” James sat down on a nearest chair and he too started to pet his now furry son.

“We need to take him to St. Mungo’s. They must get these kind of cases all the time, right? I mean, children cast all kinds of accidental magic..” Even to herself Lily sounded unsure. She knew how incredibly difficult it was to achieve an Animagus transformation and she never heard of anyone becoming an Animagus on accident. She did however remember all the horror stories she’s read about transformation gone terribly wrong. Shuddering at the thought of something like that happening to her little Harry, she transfigured a baby carrier into a basket and stuffed it with a soft blanket.

“Come here, sweetie. Mummy is taking you on a little trip.” Lily gently picked the puppy up and let him settle in the basket. “There’s a good boy.”

“Yep, let’s go!” Hurriedly stuffing some bacon in his pockets, Sirius chugged down the rest of his coffee.

“You’re coming with us?” James carefully lifted the basket, one hand protectively hovering over the puppy’s back.

“Of course we are!” Sirius threw an arm over Remus’s shoulder and steered him towards the door.

“And the bacon?”

“Just some treats for Padfoot junior.” Sending an exaggerating wink Lily’s way, Sirius sauntered out of kitchen.

Remus snorted, James groaned and Lily giggled as they all followed the black haired Marauder to the sitting room.  
Just as Lily reached for some floo powder, the flames turned green from an incoming call. A moment later a dark clad figure stepped out of the fireplace.

“Lily?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, for the comments and kudo's, hope you still like it :)


	3. Chapter 3

“Lily?” The visitor moved elegantly, approaching the gawking redhead.

“Severus!” Lily exclaimed. “Oh Merlin, I’m so sorry! I completely forgot you were coming today.”

“I see.” The dark haired man regarded Lily with an unreadable expression on his face. “I shall take my leave as to not inconvenience you any further.” He turned on his heel and headed back towards the fireplace.

“Good riddance.” Muttered Sirius under his breath, earning himself a glare from Lily and an elbow from Remus.

“Wait, Sev!” Lily grabbed Severus’s hand, making him turn to face her. “I really am sorry, but after last night I had other things on my mind and now this thing with Harry happened and I don’t know how to make it better, what if they can’t change him back and..” Lily rambled on, working herself into a right state. Finally Severus had enough and pressed a hand against her mouth.

 Lily was his best friend and he loved her dearly, but Merlin she could sometimes talk his ear off. He really missed her though when they had a falling out while still at Hogwarts. All because of his stupid mistake. When Dumbledore defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort in their sixth year, Severus realized he was saved from following the dark path of death and destruction. He apologized to Lily repeatedly, begged for her forgiveness and pleaded with her to take him back as a friend. He never would have done it for anyone else and luckily Lily seemed to have realized it as well. She forgave him and they slowly rebuild their relationship, much to James’s dismay. After graduating from Hogwarts they regularly kept in touch, mostly through letters as Severus was busy getting his Potion Mastery. He visited Lily just after she had her baby and then left for France to study under the famous Potion Master Jean-Baptiste Guilliermond.

Today was the first time he’s seen Lily in months and he watched her fondly. “Lily, breathe. Calm yourself.” Green eyes blinked at him. “Now tell me what happened that got you so flustered.”

Severus removed his hand from Lily’s mouth and let it fall on her shoulder. Before she could respond, James all but growled. “Keep your hands to yourself, Snape!” Sneering at his childhood bully, Severus folded his arms across his chest.

“Yeah, Snivellus, why don’t you crawl back to whatever hole you came from.” Added Sirius, never needing much incentive to have a go at Snape.

Sensing the need to defuse the situation, Lily stepped between her husband and her friend. “Let’s sit down for a bit, but we really need to leave soon.” She pulled Severus to the couch and quickly started telling him about the events from last night.

Halfway through the story Severus interrupted her with a loud cry. “You left your baby with a werewolf? Are you insane?”

Lily flinched and Sirius jumped up from his seat. “He was perfectly safe! Moony would never hurt him, he considers Harry his cub!”

“You couldn’t have known that! Werewolves are vicious creatures, what if he’d decided he was in a mood for a midnight snack? Would you have been able to stop him? Would you, Black?” Severus was furious at their ignorance. He couldn’t have cared less for a spawn of Potter but Harry was also Lily’s son and he didn’t want any part of her getting hurt. Even if half the DNA came from his enemy.

“Sev, please. You didn’t see them together. It was.. unreal yet sweet at the same time.” Said Lily tearfully. “We couldn’t get Harry away without Moony attacking us. What would you have us do?” She grabbed his hand, pleading with her eyes for him to understand.

Severus wanted to yell at her, that he would’ve killed the beast without a second thought, that he’d rather go to Azkaban if it meant she and her baby were safe, that he despised Potter for not taking better care of his family. He wanted to tell her great many things but he bit his tongue. The friendship with Lily was too precious to Severus, and he knew how much it hurt to lose it.

Tersely nodding his head, he waited for her to continue. Lily took a deep breath and resumed the story telling. When she picked up the basket and set it on the couch between them, Severus regarded her with narrowed eyes.

“Is this a joke?”

“What? No! No, Sev, how could you think that? I wouldn’t joke about something like this.” Visibly upset, Lily gently petted the little puppy.

“You wouldn’t, but they..” Severus nodded his head at the Marauders.

“Shut up, Snape. It’s easy to criticise everyone else. If you rather came up with a solution how to fix Harry.” James sat down next to Lily and hugged her, glaring daggers at Snape from behind her shoulder.

Severus sneered at him but then his expression turned thoughtful, a long, potion stained finger tapping against his chin. “Have you found Black’s wand after the accident?”

“No, it must have transformed with Harry.” With eyes full of hope Lily gazed at her friend.

“That effectively rules out simple transfiguration.”

“You call this simple, Snivellus?” Severus didn’t pay any attention to Sirius, still deep in thought.

“That means a full Animagus transformation was achieved, and by accidental magic no less. Quite an impressive feat for an infant.”

Lily agreed, nodding her head. “I thought this was impossible. Learning how to transform usually takes years.”

“Do you have any idea how to reverse this?” James asked. He didn’t like Snape but even he would admit the man was extremely intelligent.

“Unless you want to wait for Harry to change back by himself, I’d say your only option is the Homorphus charm.”

“I’ve never heard about it.” Lily looked at James questioningly but he shook his head. “I don’t know it either.”

“Oh please, he just made that up to look smart.” Huffed Sirius, clearly not pleased by all the attention Snape was getting from his friends.

“I assure you, Black, I do not need to ‘make things up’ in order to look smart. Perhaps if you picked up a book once in a while, instead of perusing just a sport section of The Daily Prophet, you might actually, Merlin forbid, learn something.”

Sirius never regretted not having his wand more in his life. He wanted to hex Snape into the next millennium. Opening his mouth to let the slimy Slytherin know just what he thought about him, he was suddenly pulled back into his seat. Remus gave him a threatening look and quietly spoke for the first time since Severus arrived.

“How does the charm work?”

Remus felt immensely guilty about last night and all the concerns Severus has voiced were like daggers, slicing his heart open one by one. He knew Severus was right to be worried. And even though he himself believed Moony would never hurt Harry, he would do anything to prevent exposing him to that kind of danger again.

“It’s a reversal type of spell.” Severus replied. “Essentially it is an untransfiguration, reversing the Animagus back to his human form. It is a very complex spell and needs to be performed by at least two wizards at the same time.”

“Do you know how to cast it?” Asked Lily. Severus nodded his head.

“Will you teach us?” For once there was no hostility in James’s eyes.

“Very well. You’ll need to practise thoroughly before even attempting to use it on a child.”

James turned to Sirius with pleading eyes. “Siri? Please?” Sirius was busy glaring at Snape but his gaze softened when he noticed James’s forlorn expression. He stood up and rushed to the couch, pulling James in a bear hug. “Anything for you guys, you know that Prongs.”

James hugged his best friend back, trying to blink away tears. “I love you, man.” He mumbled into Sirius’s shoulder.

Severus rolled his eyes at the duo. “Touching. Now can we get on with it?”

Glaring at the Slytherin one last time, Sirius shifted to Padfoot. Tail wagging furiously, he sniffed at the basket on the couch. Harry-the puppy was curled up into a small ball, sleeping peacefully.

Severus explained to Lily and James how to cast the charm. He had them practise the wand movements until he was completely satisfied and then had them practise some more. This resulted in a very frustrated James, who almost hexed Snape if not for Lily stomping hard on his foot. Finally they were ready to try for real and had Padfoot stand in the middle of the room, which they cleared of all furniture for the moment.

“Now, concentrate on your magic when you say the incantation.” Severus looked at Lily. “And don’t mess up the wand movements.” He glared at James.

“Hey!” Indignant, James pointed his wand at Snape.

“Come on, James! No more messing around! I want to get my baby back as soon as possible.” Lily scowled, making James look at her apologetically.

Together, they pointed their wands at Padfoot. “Homini revelare.” A bright blue light engulfed the Animagus and suddenly paws turned into hands and feet, black fur receded and pointy ears disappeared as the Grim transformed into a man. Still on hands and knees, Sirius shook his head. “Well that was weird.”

“Are you allright? Did it hurt?” Remus kneeled by his boyfriend, running a hand through the shaggy hair.

“No, it didn’t hurt. Just felt strange, like I didn’t have any control over my own body.” Sirius then grinned at James and Lily. “You did it! Want to try one more time before you change Harry back?”

“Thanks Siri.”

After repeating the whole process, they were fairly confident nothing could go wrong and placed Harry-the puppy on the floor. Without the basket of course, they didn’t want him to get stuck once he transformed.

James and Lily pointed their wands at the pup, said the incantation and… nothing happened.

“Try it again!” Sirius urged them. Nodding in agreement, Severus closely observed as they cast the spell. The only thing that happened now was that Harry-the puppy woke up after James let out a frustrated shout. “Why isn’t it working??”

“I don’t know.” Lily was on the verge of tears. She just wanted her baby boy back. Not that he wasn’t just as precious as a puppy, but still. She longed to see him flash his beautiful smile at her.

“It should be working. As far as I could see you performed the spell correctly. Perhaps he isn’t an Animagus after all..” Severus mused, his forehead furrowed in concentration. “Has he ever done any other accidental magic?”

“He once accioed his stuffed toy when I didn’t get it for him fast enough.” Replied James.

“That is fairly common.” Said Severus. “Many children can manage a close proximity summoning when acting on their basic needs. Though most will grow out of this ability as soon as they start to use a wand.”

“Hmm.” Hummed James. “What exactly do you mean by close proximity?”

Incredulous look on his face, Severus lifted an eyebrow.

“What?” James looked offended. “Is it like three feet close or anywhere in the house close?”

“Of course close means within a few feet, you simpleton! Even some adults using wands have troubles summoning objects further than a few dozen feet.”

James wasn’t deterred by the harsh tone. “Oh really? Well Harry summoned his toy all the way from the kitchen. To his room upstairs! How is that for close proximity?” He smirked as Sirius let out a loud guffaw.

“He did?” Severus eyed the puppy in deep contemplation. Suddenly his face lit up and he lifted his wand.

“Sev?” Knowing her friend, Lily could see he just had an idea.

“Let us try again. This time I will join the casting.” Severus stood next to Lily, wand at the ready. At their questioning looks, he explained. “If I’m correct little Harry is already quite powerful. For the reversal spell to work, enough of the caster’s magic must be released in order to fuel the change. As one cannot release all of one’s magic at the time, two casters are generally needed for this type of spell. As it would seem, even combined power of your magic wasn’t enough to revoke the transformation, therefore I will add mine.”

They didn’t argue with his logic and once again took their positions in the middle of the room. “Homini revelare.” A bright blue light shot out of the three wands, almost blinding them in its intensity. A moment later Harry was sitting on the carpet, looking up at them with a confused look on his little face. Severus quickly dropped down on one knee and plucked the wand out of Harry’s fist.

“Harry!” Lily cried out and picked up her son, cuddling him close as her face got wet from tears. She sobbed quietly into his messy hair, the stress of last night and this morning finally getting to her.

“He’s fine, he’s fine.” James repeated, hugging his wife and son, not even bothering to hide the tears of relief in his eyes. Sirius and Remus beamed at their friends, Sirius only barely resisting the urge to join in their hug. Severus just stood by awkwardly.

Finally Lily disentangled herself from the hug, stepping closer to Severus. “Thank you.” Her eyes were shiny with tears and filled with gratitude.

“You’re welcome.” Replied Severus quietly. He was never very good with feelings and definitely didn’t know what to do with tears. Luckily Lily already stopped crying and now turned Harry in her arms to show him to her friend.

“And this is our Harry.”

Severus gazed at the child, startled by the bright green eyes that looked so much like his mother’s. Harry eyed him curiously, reaching with one hand to touch him.

“Ooh look, he likes you!” Lily exclaimed happily and promptly pushed Harry into Severus’s arms. Severus held him clumsily at first, an alarmed look on his face. Lily chuckled and adjusted his hold, placing one of his arms under the little boy’s bum. “Just hold him like this, see?”

Severus could hear Black snickering in the background but paid him no mind. He watched the child in his arms, finding the whole experience surprisingly enjoyable. Harry seemed to be fascinated by his face, petting his cheeks and touching his nose. Of course Severus was aware of the fact that his nose was rather prominent, but he found Black’s suggestion, “Harry, squeeze it tight to see if it honks!”, rather uncalled for. He shot Black a deadly glare, secretly amused by the fact he was still in possession of Black’s wand. Perhaps he should wait how long it would take before the mutt started to miss his precious stick.

“Aww come on, Sevvie, why the long face?” Sirius sniggered at the extra dark glare he received for the new nickname.

“Sevvie?” Harry was looking at the dark haired man with big innocent eyes. “Sevvie.” He patted Severus’s cheek softly while the man in question stared at him with stunned expression.

“Oh my god, I can’t breathe.” Sirius was rolling on the floor, literally, laughing so hard he couldn’t catch a breath. Remus was chuckling, amused by his boyfriend’s antics and also by the look of horror on James’s face. Lily was getting all teary eyed again, watching her son and childhood best friend fondly.

Finally, with a deep sigh, James sat down on the couch. “I hope you don’t have any plans for the holidays, Sn- ehh Severus.” He said, tripping on the name.

Severus tore his gaze away from Harry. “And why would that be relevant?”

Lily and Remus looked at James curiously.

“Well, you see, you just made the Top 3 of Harry’s first words. That officially makes you a family. And everybody knows spending the holidays with family is mandatory.” James smirked at the shocked faces.

Sirius plopped down next to him. “Does this mean I have to play nice with Snape now?” He pouted.

James just chuckled but Lily responded sternly. “Yes, it does! And you can start by calling each other by your first names.”

“Fine.” Sighed Sirius in defeat.

Severus stood completely still, watching as his childhood enemies decided to include him in their little gang. He glanced at the baby in his arms and realized that perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. If it meant he got to spend more time with Lily and little Harry, he’d just have to learn to put up with Black as well. He never really had problems with Lupin anyway and Potter seemed to have mellowed out since he became a father.

Patting the baby’s back gently, he sat down in the armchair that Lily summoned back. For a while the only sound in the room was Sirius munching on something. When he noticed the others looking at him strangely, he pulled something out of his pocket with an insane grin.

“Bacon, anyone?”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end for now, hope you enjoyed my story. I might write more of this universe if the inspiration strikes :)
> 
> Thank you again for reading, sweet comments and kudo's.


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